Basil Athanasiadis Soft Light

1 To the Touch (shō, violin) 5:35

2 Air Still (female voice, shō) 7:31

3 For the Ice II (violin, soprano saxophone) 10:30

Pale Views (alto flute)

4 I 2:25

5 II 1:36

6 III 1:13

7 IV 3:18

8 The Cat in Love (female voice, violin, piano) 11:23

9 Dream of a Butterfly III (piano) 11:59

10 Soft Light (female voice, flute, piano) 8:21

Total playing time: 63:57

ShonoritiesShie Shoji (voice) | Naomi Sato (shō, soprano saxophone) | Lin Lin (flute, alto flute)Stelios Chatziiosifidis (violin) | Jasmina Samssuli (piano)

The music Notes by the composerThis collection features a selection of seven works composed between 2003 and 2017.Despite their inevitable stylistic differences, all pieces are interconnected by means of asubtle unifying thread which explains the reason for their co- existence in this collection.Their convergence can be pinpointed in an overall subdued character, quietness, lack ofthematic development and a common aesthetic direction relating to various elementsof Japanese culture. From the early influences in Pale Views by a Kazuo Ishiguro novel tothe remodelling of the structure of a Noh dance in For the Ice II and use of haiku or theemployment of the Japanese shō in The Cat in Love, Air Still and To the Touch, all worksdemonstrate common aesthetic characteristics consistent with my doctoral and post-doctoral research on the Japanese aesthetic of wabi-sabi.

To the Touch

In 2011, I embarked to Japan for the second time as a postdoctoral fellowship specialresearcher at the Tokyo University of the Arts. I spent most of my first year at the city ofKushiro in Hokkaido during which other than composing, I studied Japanese to improvemy communication with people and gain a deeper understanding of Japanese culture. In2012 before moving to Tokyo, my Japanese language teacher gave me as a farewell gift adiscreet folded calligraphy panel featuring two haiku written on two-fan shapedelements. These poems by Kobayashi Issa and Matsuo Bashō, made a deep impression inme as I felt they represented perfectly the quietness and serenity of my life in Hokkaido.One year later they became a source of inspiration of two new works.

To the Touch for violin and shō (composed in 2013) is based on the first haiku byKobayashi Issa and was composed as a pair to the work Air Still (track 2) for female voiceand shō. The music is a reflection on the contrasting imagery of stillness and movementof a scene of a falling dewdrop lit by the spring moon.

Air Still

Air Still is the second piece of the set, based on both haiku. The first half of the work is asetting of Kobayashi’s haiku also making its appearance in To the Touch. Such pivotmechanism is a reference to the technique commonly used in both haiku and rengapoetry in order to connect contrasting ideas within the same poem or several poemswritten by different poets. Therefore, despite the common material shared between thetwo works, Air Still diverges focusing as it is on the ideas of stillness and immobilityrepresented by the imagery of floating clouds circling the setting sun very muchreminiscent to what I experienced first-hand at Kushiro.

Haru no tsukisawarabashizuki

tarinubeshi

Spring moon,A dewdrop falls from,

To the touch

Hi ni kakarukumo yashibashi no

wataridori

Hanging over the setting sun,Clouds playing,

Like migratory birds

For the Ice II

For the Ice II also sounding as For the Eyes Too, alludes to the visual aspect of the workcomposed as a dance piece for two female dancers, premiered at Canterbury Festival in 26March 2016 in a concert dedicated to the 70thbirthday of Sir Rodney Richard Bennett.

The structure of the work, is based on the structure of the Japanese nō dance chu no mai(literally meaning 'moderate dance') and is built upon the repetition of four fixed thematicsequences and four unique sequences (distant variants of the four repetitive ones). Thediscreet coexistence of development and non- development as well as the contrast in theinstrumental function, not only refer to the polarisation of the Western and Eastern conceptsof fixity and fluidity but also underpin the differences between the two stage charactersimpersonated by the two female dancers.

Pale Views

Pale Views was inspired by Kazuo Ishiguro’s first novel A Pale View of Hills.

The music oscillates between tonality and chromaticism portraying the contrastingstates of present and past, kindness and cruelty, tranquility and disturbance featuredthroughout the novel.

The Cat in LoveWhat is most interesting about the Japanese haiku, is the simplicity of language. In fact,at times is so simple that even a little child can easily understand. Yet haiku areconsidered as masterpieces of refined expression. Such aesthetic can without doubthave a great potential for contemporary music composition.

Neko no koishote kara naite aware nari

(Shida Yaha)

The cat in love is pitiable,Caterwauling from the beginning

Dream of a Butterfly III

Among the works included in this collection, Dream of a Butterfly III holds a uniqueplace as the references to the Japanese aesthetics are less conspicuous. Composed in2017, primarily for the purposes of instrumental demonstration, it seems to have littleto do with the prevailing modesty of Japanese aesthetics. Being neither too simple nortoo complex, neither too subdued nor too brilliant, the work stands on an expressivethreshold that does not seem to fit fully into either Western or Eastern aestheticframeworks.

Although the work was composed in order to demonstrate certain aspects of theexpressive and virtuosic potential of the piano, its writing limits the required virtuosityto the absolutely necessary. The various passages are bare from any unnecessary frills.Here speed and brilliance are of secondary importance as they derive naturally from theinner interpretative necessity for a convincing atmosphere. That renders the Dream of aButterfly III to a large extend purposeless, artless and hence closer to the true spirit ofwabi-sabi.

Soft Light

In the tea ceremony, the Japanese tea house interior even in the daytime the light in theroom is subdued, for the low eaves of the slanting roof admit but few of the sun’s rays. Theimportance of appropriate lighting in the mood of the overall ceremony signifies the Japaneseaesthetic yawaragi (softness/quietness).

Another important characteristic of yawaragi is the use of unobtrusive colours. In the formaltea ceremony, everything is sober in tint from the ceiling to the floor; the guests themselveshave carefully chosen garments of unobtrusive colours.

In Soft Light, the instrumentaltreatment characterised by anon-virtuosic modesty, alludesto a timbral sobriety similar tothat evident in the teaceremony. The timbralresources employed here arelimited to a minimum.

Dynamics, limited as they arewithin a ppp/pp and mp/mfframework, create theimpression of distance from thesound source in a similarmanner as in the example of thediffused light filtered throughthe screens of the tea house.The subdued quality of sound ismaintained even in theinstances of louder dynamics asthe dynamic peaks occur onlymomentarily quickly recedingback to silence.

The composer and performers

BasilAthanasiadisAfter completing his piano and advanced theory studies(harmony, counterpoint, fugue) at the National Conservatoireof Athens, Basil moved to London. He studied composition atthe Trinity College of Music, the Royal Academy of Music andfinally at the Canterbury Christ Church University where heobtained his PhD supported by the Research StudentshipAward.

He is the only composer to date to be twice the recipient of theprestigious JSPS Postdoctoral Fellowship Award (2010-11 and2011-13). During that period Basil was based at the TokyoUniversity of the Arts as a Special Foreign Researcher, where hecomposed new works for Western and Japanese instrumentswith a particular interest on the shō (mouth organ) and the 20-stringedkoto.

Basil’s works are characterised by a strong visual identity; hisperformances has often been accompanied by dance or stage

action. Early influences can be traced in Sergiu Celibidache’s views on aspects of ambience and acousticspace (Athanasiadis attended Celibidache’s Munich seminars in 1994), and in composers such asChristou, Feldman and Takemitsu. His most recent works focus on the Japanese aesthetic of wabi-sabi,whichhasalsobeenthemain subject ofhis doctoral and postdoctoral research since 2004.

Represented by United Music Publishing since 2014, his music has been released on CD by DuttonEpoch, Sargasso, Regent Records, Fonorum and the Choir & Organ Magazine.

Basil’s works have been performed in Europe, US, Canada and Asia by performers and ensemblessuch as Evelyn Glennie, Mayumi Miyata, members of the Düsseldorf Symphonic Orchestra, LondonSinfonietta, Amsterdam Loeki Stardust Quartet, New London Chamber Ensemble, Silk String Quartet,Okeanos, Mondriaan Quartet, Alea III, Shonorities and choirs such as the BBC Singers, WellsCathedral Choir, Cambridge Chapel Choir of Selwyn College and Montreal Christ Church CathedralChoir.

ShonoritiesShonorities is a diverse group of performers and composers committed to promoting arange of repertoire that encompasses a wide spectrum of musical styles including old,contemporary and traditional pieces. By blending a variety of musical cultures,Shonorities aims to show the potential of the cross-cultural collaboration in thecontemporary music creation. Shonorities’ past projects feature works for a variety ofinstrumental combinations including female voice and traditional Japanese instrumentssupported by organisations such as the Japan Foundation, Japanese Society for thePromotion of Science (JSPS), Daiwa Anglo-Japanese Foundation, Sawakawa Foundation,Japanese Embassy in Greece, Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation, British Council and theGreek-Japanese Association.

Shie ShojiShie studied singing at Trinity College of Music and theRoyal Welsh College of Music. With an experience in bothoperatic and musical theatre roles Shie has taken part inproductions such as Turandot, I Due Foscari, BorisGodoenov (National Reis Opera), Miss Saigon (CameronMackintosh Production) and The Merry Widow (Carl RosaOpera Company). New dance/music theatre works creditsinclude the production of Love Suicide at Amijima,(Riverside Studios), Evelyn Ficarra/Sarah Fahie’s Submarine(Robin Howard Dance Theatre) and Nigh bed is in mess(Japan), broadcast on Resonance FM in Soap Opera (AlbanyTheatre) and Kurtag’s Kafka Fragmente (Greece).

As a co-founder and vocalist of Shonorities, Shie has beenactively collaborating with musicians and other artists forthe creation of new works. Her recordings of BasilAthanasiadis’ works have been released on two CDs underthe UK- based label Sargasso.

Naomi SatoNaomi studied saxophone at the Tokyo University ofthe Arts and Conservatorium van Amsterdam and shōwith Ko Ishikawa at the Tokyo University of the Arts.She was the Semi Finalist of the 2nd InternationalAdolphe Sax Concours in Dinant (1998), and 3rd prizewinner of the Saxophonewettbewerb Gustav Bunke inHannover (1999).

Naomi is a permanent member of the AtlasEnsemble in the Netherlands. As soloist she hasperformed with ensembles such as Ives Ensemble,Nieuw Ensemble, Diotima Quartet, EnsembleResonance, Ensemble PHACE, Ictus Ensemble, B'Rock,Prague Modern, N-JP project and the VancouverIntercultural Orchestra.

Stelios ChatziiosifidisAt the age of seventeen Stelios entered the Royal Academyof Music, London, and gained his BMus and MMus inperformance. He is an ardent chamber music player and afounding member Shonorities and Lunaire Quartet. Stelioshas collaborated with composers such as John Taverner,Rodion Shchedrin, Roderick Watkins and Basil Athanasiadis,recorded in orchestras on Nimbus and Naxos labels andfeatured in three CDs with Shonorities on Saragasso label.He is also a Lecturer of Music Performance at KentUniversity and an Associate Tutor at Canterbury ChristChurch University, where he also teaches the violin andviola. He currently teaches at Simon Langton School forBoys and St Edmund's School and directs the orchestra andthe choir at Kent University.

Lin LinLin has studied at the Royal College of Music; Trinity LabanConservatoire of Music and Dance and currently undertakingperformance based PhD research program at GoldsmithsUniversity of London. Lin has established herself by giving alarge number of solo and chamber recitals in major concerthalls and music festivals throughout Europe and Asia. Shealso worked with leading orchestras as the soloist andprincipal flute, including recent public performance withTrinity Symphony Orchestra, as the flute soloist, for theEuropean premiere of Golden Flute Concerto (Chen Yi) aswell as world premiere of Hua Mulan Saga (Sandy Clark) atLondon Blackheath ConcertHall.

JasminaSamssuliNoted for her lyrical and passionate interpretations ofeverything from Bach to contemporary composers, Jasminahas a rare ability to communicate the essence of music: shedraws in her audience with a very intimate sound andcompellingly open, spirited playing. Both as a soloist andchamber musician, she has performed on concert platformsin Europe, Africa and Asia and has broadcast widely onGerman and French radio and television. Jasmina studiedsolo piano in Hamburg before being awarded scholarships byboth the German government and the Mozart Academy inPrague and completing her studies at the Royal Academy ofMusic with a PhD on the etudes of Claude Debussy. Jasminaalso practises, teaches and writes at the interface of musicand other artistic disciplines. Together with a group of artistsshe was awarded one of Germany’s most prestigious prizesfor interdisciplinary art, the Karl-Hofer Prize.

Soft Light credits

Producer: Basil Athanasiadisrecording engineers: Tony Faulkner (tracks 1-8,10); Basil Athanasiadis (track 9)

editing/mixing: Basil Athanasiadisrecorded at:

St John the Evangelist Church, Oxford on 17 February 2017(tracks 4-8, 10),Colyer-Fergusson Hall, University of Canterbury on 13 September 2017 (tracks 1-3),

Berlin on 7 January 2018 (track 9)microphones: RØDE TFM-50, RØDE NTR (UK). DPA 4011A (Germany) mixing

console: SADiE LRX (UK); Motu 8M/Cubase (Germany) monitor speakers:Event Electronics Opal, Genelec 8050B

microphone pre-amplifiers, A/D converters: AUDIENT ASP880Design and packaging: Stephen Sutton (Divine Art)

Cover image: ‘Soft Light’ by Maria DakouProgram notes: Basil Athanasiadis

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